From humble beginnings, in the course of three centuries the Portuguese built the world's first truly global empire, stretching from modern Brazil to sub-Saharan Africa and from India to the East Indi
The very name El Cid sums up much of the special character of medieval Spanish warfare. It comes from the Arabic al sayyid, master or chieftain, and seems to have been given to Rodrigo de Vivar by his
The Order of St John of the Hospital of Jerusalem (or the Hospitallers as they are better known) has existed for almost a thousand years. It was established in Jerusalem in the mid-11th century to car
Born amid immense suffering and bloodshed, the Kingdom of Jerusalem remained a battlefield for almost 200 years. The Crusades gave rise to the Military Orders of the Templars and Hospitallers, and wer
The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were a time of great upheaval for medieval France. In 1328 the Capetian line came to an end. This was the trigger for the Hundred Years War (1337-1453)?as succes
Osprey's Campaign title for one of the battles in which Muslims attempted to overtake Syria. In 636 AD, after protracted skirmishing and minor engagements the Arab and Byzantine armies faced each othe
In 1187, Christian Europe was shaken by events in the Middle East. This volume tells the story of those momentous months - the campaign leading to the Muslim capture of Jerusalem after the disastrous
The Great War of 1914-18 is often seen as one major battleground – the Western Front – with numerous 'side-shows'. The other battle zones were not side-shows to those involved, however, although the l
During the Middle Ages, Islam was Christian Europe's only civilized and most troublesome neighbor. The Middle Ages saw almost continual strife between these two distinct cultures. By the time the Fran
